Related Links

Relevant offers

The Green Party has lodged a complaint with police over illegal spying on internet millionaire Kim Dotcom - and is calling on Prime Minister John Key to support the investigation.

The Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) carried out surveillance on Dotcom, but did not check his residency status. Instead it relied on the Organised and Financial Crime Agency (OFCANZ).

The GCSB is not allowed to spy on New Zealanders.

Co-leader Russel Norman says the Government Communications Security Bureau's illicit surveillance broke a law which bans interception of private communications.

Last year Prime Minister John Key claimed freelance cameraman had breached the same law by recording his conversation with ACT leader John Banks. No charges were laid over the so-called 'teapot tapes' scandal.

Inspector-General Paul Neazor's report, released yesterday, concluded agents had acted unlawfully because they failed to make basic checks on Dotcom's residency - and failed to grasp changes to immigration legislation.

Norman repeated Key's assertion that he called in police because '' it was a "matter of principle".

"When he was taped in a public café by a media person discussing matters of public interest, Key kicked up an almighty fuss and had police raid media outlets to make sure the tape wasn't released,'' he said.

"If Prime Minister Key really feels so strongly about a person's right to privacy, then he should back my call for the police to investigate the illegal surveilling of New Zealand residents by a government spy agency.

"It is quite a basic error. They have failed at the lowest hurdle. It's quite frankly not good enough."

Neazor's damning report released yesterday called for a review of cases back to 2009.

He found there was confusion between the agencies about changes to the Immigration Act in 2009 and the subsequent effect on the GCSB legislation.

"Dotcom...is however one of a category of people who is treated in New Zealand as if he ought to have protection against collection of his information," he wrote.

Labour, NZ First and the Greens all called for an independent inquiry.

Dotcom said on Twitter that he accepted Key's apology.

"Show your sincerity by supporting a full, transparent & independent inquiry into the entire Mega case," he wrote on the social media site.

He asked Key to "show the world that your government is not an American dancing bear".

LABOUR SENDS FORMAL REQUEST TO KEY

Labour have boosted their calls for an inquiry into the Dotcom debacle with a formal request to Key.

Leader David Shearer wanted an independent inquiry ''into the serious failures within our intelligence services and the Government's management of them.''

Shearer, who wrote to Key today, said the prime minister would do the country a ''dis-service'' if the matter was ''swept under the carpet.''

''New Zealanders' confidence in the integrity and actions of our intelligence agencies has been severely dented by the Kim Dotcom affair,'' he said.

He added: "This isn't just about whether a couple of people screwed up at the lowest levels of the Government Communications Security Bureau. It's about many serious issues, including how a number of key agencies, like the Intelligence Coordination Group which reports directly to the Prime Minister, were either unaware of the issue or deliberately kept it from John Key.''

Meanwhile, Norman said the Inspector-General was the wrong person to investigate wrong-doing by GCSB.

"One of the Inspector-General's main functions is ensuring that the GCSB does not spy on New Zealand citizens or permanent residents."

Neazor had not been able to monitor the GCSB in the Dotcom case in the first place, Norman said.

"The Inspector-General's report fails to explain why once a mistake had been made by the GCSB they failed to bring this to the attention of their the so-called watchdog - the Inspector-General himself."

GCSB director Ian Fletcher apologised to Key and said he would "'take every step to rebuild public confidence in his organisation".

Fletcher issued a statement apologising to Key and Deputy Prime Minister Bill English, who was left red-faced when it emerged he knew about the GCSB's role in the case and signed a document to prevent it becoming public.

"I am very sorry for the way the Bureau has handled its part in the Dotcom case," he said.